The bus ride was long and boring, James has successfully concealed himself from the other students in the bus and when his stop came James ran off before anyone could get a second look at him. James took a deep breath once he was off the bus and proceeded to his house as the other students who got off at the same stop, James looked down the street and saw someone running away from him. James assumed that this was Bob and James sprinted to his house, he reached the front door and saw that it had cracks and small traces of blood on the window. James unlocked the door and went inside.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo!” he shouted, “Where are you lot?”
“Upstairs!” said Scootaloo. James threw his backpack off and charged up the stairs, he threw the door to his room open and saw the trio sitting on his bed watching TV.
“Hi James,” said Sweetie Bell.
“Are you okay?” Apple Bloom asked, “Something wrong?”
James took a deep breath and spoke.
“Was there anyone at the door earlier?” he asked calmly.
“There was one person, he seemed to be angry about something because he started to punch the door,” said Scootaloo.
“Did he get in?” James asked.
“No,” said Scootaloo, “He gave up after a few minutes and then he put something down by the door. Then he left and I took it.”
“Do you still have it?” James asked.
“Right here,” said Scootaloo, “It looks like some kind of drink and I wanted to give it to you.”
Scootaloo gave James a Rivet energy drink can.
“Is he trying to kill me with this stuff?” James asked. A strange feeling on the other side of the can made James spin it around and look at the back, the back had a pair of wires and a battery taped to it. James looked at the wire and battery pack and wondered what there were for, he then shook the can and heard a rattle come from inside. He suddenly knew what he was holding
“SHIT!” James shouted.
“What?” Apple Bloom said, “What is it?”
“Get on the fucking floor!” James ordered as he tore the K-Bar knife from the dart board and vaulted over the bed, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo all had done as James said and were watching him, scared about what had made James act this way. James ripped the screen apart with the knife and threw the can outside then dropped to the floor. The three minutes that passed felt more like an hour, James looked up and then slowly looked out the window.
“James,” Apple Bloom said.
“Sh,” James said quickly, “Keep quiet.”
“What was that?” Scootaloo asked, terrified about what had just happened.
“That was a bomb, a fucking bomb set up to kill us,” James said, his heart beating fast enough to burst and sweat running down his face. He then turned to Scootaloo.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he said to Scootaloo.
“I don’t know,” she replied, “I’m sorry.”
“You think saying sorry will work?” James said grabbing Scootaloo by the shirt and holding her right up to his face, “Do you know what you just did? You almost killed me and yourself, that was a IED in a frigging soda can! If I had opened that I would be dead! What was going through your mind while you took the can from the front door that was planted by someone who was trying to kill you or me? Huh? What-were-you-thinking?”
Scootaloo stared at James and then started crying, she was scared and she felt that this was the final straw for them, James was going to toss them out and never help them again. James let go of Scootaloo’s shirt and looked at his hands then at Scootaloo.
“What have I done?” he asked himself.
Scootaloo had sunk to the floor and was still crying, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were staring at James, they had never seen that sort of reaction from him before.
“Are you alright?” Sweetie Bell asked James.
“No, no I’m not,” said James, “I’m scared and now I feel like a real arse.”
“Why did you shout at me?” Scootaloo sobbed. James kneeled down next to Scootaloo and made her look up at him.
“Reason being was that I was worried about you and your safety,” James said, “It’s over now. I’ll forgive you like I promised.”
Scootaloo stopped crying and looked out the window and at the knife in James’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“So am I,” replied James dropping the knife. James took Scootaloo’s head in his arms and held her close to his chest.
“It is over now?” Apple Bloom asked still laying on the floor.
“It’s all good now,” James said, “You’re safe now.”
Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom got up and helped comfort Scootaloo.
“Deep breaths,” James said as he lessened his hold on Scootaloo, “It’s alright now.”
“James,” Sweetie Bell said.
“What?” James asked as he let go of Scootaloo.
“The person who dropped that can, I was watching him and he dropped other junk around the house and throw something over the fence,” said Sweetie Bell. James then remembered what Maria had said on the bus.
“Well if I were you, I’d check around the outside of my house,” James heard in his head, he then realized what Sweetie Bell had seen; Bob had tried to plant more soda bombs around the house to blow it up.
“Bugger it!” James said jumping up and running to the door.
“James wait!” Scootaloo said, James span around and saw Scootaloo holding his knife to him, “You might need this.”
James took his knife nodded to Scootaloo and opened the door and ran down the hall.
“Stay away from the windows!” James shouted up the stairs.
James ran to the window that over looked his backyard, there were a couple of cans by the grill, both cans were covered in wires.
“Bob’s really lost his mind,” said James. The front door opened and James whipped around to see who it was, it was his mother who had gotten back from walking Dart with one of the neighbors.
“Hello James,” his mother said.
“Where the hell were you?” James said running over to his mother, “I thought you were home.”
“Why, what’s wrong?” his mother asked.
“Just say away from the windows and call the bomb squad,” James said as he dove past Dart and started looking through the bushes by his house.
James found one of the bombs planted by Bob and he tossed it into the middle of his front yard, as James looked around the side of his house for more explosives he wondered if Bob had done this because of what James had said to him during lunch. It seemed likely because Bob was short tempered and did openly admit that he was legally diagnosed insane, but this was no time to be distracted, James had to find the bombs before they went off. James found two more by the air conditioner and a third by a power box, James then crashed through the fence gate and ran over to the grill where two soda bombs were laying by the propane tanks. James had no other choice, he picked the first can up and tossed it over the fence, James then picked up the second can, he was about to throw it when he realized about Bob’s IQ rating. Bob had an IQ that could be compared to a fly, there was no way that Bob could make a bomb that works. James relaxed and examined the device in his hand.
“There’s no way this’ll work,” James said with a chuckle as he tossed it into the air and caught it. After the third catch there was a click that came from the can, James stopped and held it to his ear, the can was ticking.
“FUCK!” James said. He threw the can away from him and his house but it was too late, the IED exploded several feet away from him, the blast deafened James as he was thrown backwards into the wall of his house which knocked him out.
Fifteen minutes later the police had arrived with the EOD team and worked on finding the bombs and defusing them. James was found and had been awakened by the cops.
“So is he alright?” Katherine asked one police officer.
“We found him unconscious in the back,” the officer said, “He only suffered a few scrapes and a bit of shock.”
“So he’s okay right?” Dave asked who had come back from work to see what had happened.
“He’s over there on the porch but I’d leave him alone for a little bit,” the officer said, “After all he had an explosive almost take his face off.”
James was sitting on the porch bench, he had his knees up under his chin and a bandage around his head. A paramedic came over with a bottle of water and handed it to James.
“You did a brave thing,” the paramedic said, “I’ve never heard of anyone finding and trying to get rid of bombs in order to save lives.”
“Just ask the EOD guys,” James said opening the water bottle, “They do it every day.”
James drank a little water and watched the EOD team pick up the bombs and laugh about what they had been called out for. James just shook his head and looked around the yard, several police cars and a EOD team van blocked up the road, one cop then came over to where James was sitting.
“You claim to know the suspect,” he said, “Am I correct?”
“The bastard told me enough about his life,” said James.
James gave the cop information about Bob, the cop wrote the information on a clipboard and then the radio started crackling and the dispatch was stating that more calls had been made about IEDs being planted around several houses.
“We have a total of twelve calls about explosives,” Dispatch said, “Each caller is saying that the explosives are soda cans.”
“Roger, are they Rivet energy drink cans?” the cop who was sitting next to James asked.
“Confirmed, we have a unit chasing the suspect,” Dispatch said.
“I really hope you get him,” James said.
“We’ll do what we can,” the cop said.
“If he has the nerve to turn up in school tomorrow I’ll make sure that you’ll get the chance to arrest him,” said James. The cop nodded and left, James stood up and tried to get himself steady. He looked through the door to his house and saw one cop with Scootaloo, James went inside to see what they were talking about.
“I hope you know what you did,” the cop said, “You endangered the lives of not only yourself but others as well.”
Scootaloo stared at the floor and nodded.
“It’s alright,” said James, “She didn’t know what it was until I took a closer look at it.”
“She brought an explosive into your house,” the cop said, “The can was fused and filled with metal BBs, it would have killed all of you.”
“If it went off,” said James, “Come on now, let her go. She’s a great kid but she still has a lot to learn.”
Scootaloo looked up at James and gave him a small smile, the cop shrugged and left the house.
“I knew you were innocent from the start,” James said.
“Thanks for helping me out,” Scootaloo replied.
“Where’s Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell at?” James asked.
“I think they’re upstairs,” Scootaloo replied, “They might be hiding from everyone here.”
“Well I’m going up to see if they’re okay,” said James, just as he reached the stairs there was a knock on the door. James looked and saw a news crew standing outside.
“Scoot, you go on up,” James said ushering her up the stairs, “I’ll be up in a bit.”
“Sure,” Scootaloo said, “Should I tell the other’s that you’re okay?”
James nodded as he reached the handle. He opened the door once he heard Scootaloo open the door to his room, the news crew was just finishing setting up the cameras and James found it hard to contain his excitement.
“Holy crap, I’m gonna be on TV!” he thought to himself. He steadied himself and waited for the reporter to address him.
“Yes I am here of the location of the first call of the neighborhood bomb plantings,” the reporter said, “I have here James Rogers, he actually risked his life to save his home and family from the would-be bomber.”
“Those would-be bombs almost killed me,” James said.
“So one did explode?” the reporter asked.
“Knocked me out it did,” said James, “But that was a small price to pay for saving the lives of everyone here.”
“Where was the first bomb found?” the reporter asked.
“Right where you are standing,” replied James.
The interview from then on went smoothly until Sweetie Bell and Dart came bounding down the stairs.
“James!” Sweetie Bell said, “You’re okay.”
“I though you were staying upstairs until this blew over,” said James.
“I just wanted to see if you were okay,” said Sweetie Bell, “Look, Dart came too.”
“I’m sorry but who is this?” the reporter asked. James froze up, he knew that he couldn’t tell the nation who she truly was, but he could make the story better.
“This here is Samantha,” James said, “She’s one of the three girls I rescued after I found them at my place of occupation.”
“One of three?” the reporter asked. James stepped back to the house, turned and shouted up the stairs.
“Hey girls!” he said, “Some people here want to talk to you.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo thundered down the stairs and then stopped when they saw the camera equipment.
“It’s alright,” said James, “Just a news interview.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo slowly walked a little closer to James.
“These two are Abigail and Susie,” said James.
“Did you name them or did they tell you?” the reporter asked.
“They told me their names,” said James. The interview then shifted to the story of how James found the Crusaders at the gas station he worked at and that they had been living at his house for the past few days.
“So are you keeping them here until their parents show up to retrieve them?” the reporter asked.
“Yes,” replied James.
“I hope they don’t come for us just yet,” said Apple Bloom.
“And why’s that?” the reporter asked.
“It’s because James said that he and his parents would take us on their vacations with them,” Apple Bloom said.
“That I did, that I did,” James said as he pulled Apple Bloom closer to him.
“Seems like they really have become attached to you,” the reporter said.
“It’s because I give them hope and love,” James said, “Along with food and a proper bed to lie in. They deserve the best and I’ll make sure they’ll get the best.”
“James, you sounded like a real sissy,” Scootaloo said.
“I regret nothing!” James said.
“Well there you have it,” the reporter said, “One story that we never expected to hear.”
“And we’re done,” the camera man said.
“Thanks for your cooperation,” the reporter said, “That other story made everything better.”
“I thought that it sort of connected with this one,” said James.
The news crew left and James led the girls back inside, once he shut the door he slumped against it and slid down to the floor.
“That was close,” said James.
“Why? Would our secret be exposed?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Well I didn’t say anything that would’ve aroused suspicion,” James said.
“It’s fine James, you did a really good job,” Apple Bloom said.
“Yeah, come on now, let’s try and relax a little,” James said.
The rest of the day went by smoothly for James and the Crusaders, Dave and Katherine were relived to see that James was back to his usual self. Later that night James planned how he was going to turn in Bob, he thought of an elaborate plan that would guarantee the police an easy arrest.
“Break his arms then his legs,” James said as he scrubbed away the last of the blood from the back of his neck. He looked at himself in the mirror over his sink, some shrapnel had created a scar that ran from under his left eye to underneath his ear lobe. The scar was fairly small and barely noticeable but James thought that it looked good on him, it gave him a feeling of toughness and confidence. James then opened the door to his room and saw Scootaloo sitting on a mattress on the floor.
“Where did this come from?” James asked.
“The people from down the street gave it to us,” Scootaloo said not looking up from the book on fighter jets she was reading.
“I see you’re indulged in that book,” said James leaping up on his bed.
“I wish I could fly one of these,” Scootaloo said.
“My dad’s a pilot,” James said, “He probably can teach you.”
“That sounds cool,” said Scootaloo looking up at James, she then cocked her head to one side in confusion.
“James,” she said, “What are you wearing?”
“Something that I got hand made in Vietnam,” James said, “It’s made of silk, keeps me cool at night.”
“It looks nice,” said Scootaloo.
“Yeah it does,” said James lifting his arm up, “Check out the dragons.”
“Do you travel a lot?” Scootaloo asked.
“Me and my family have touched almost every part of the globe,” said James, “Only last year we went to Australia for a couple of weeks. Best part was I got to meet the Crocodile Hunter and get a picture of him wrestling a crocodile.”
Scootaloo nodded in approval and went back to her book, after several minutes James saw that she had keeled over and was asleep. James shook her awake.
“You seem to fall asleep rather quickly,” he said.
“I know I do, it’s been a long day,” Scootaloo replied setting the book beside her.
“And a particularly terrifying one if that,” said James, “Don’t worry about the nutcase who tried to blow us up, he won’t be trying that again once I’m through with him.”
“Are you going to teach him a lesson?” Scootaloo said.
“I won’t be teaching him how to walk after I’m done with him if that’s what you mean,” James said with a rather evil grin, Scootaloo yawned and rolled over under the sheets of the mattress. James reached up and pulled the light cord.
“Goodnight James,” Scootaloo muttered. James stopped dead, this truly was a first. A cold sweat ran down his neck, he had never said this before but he had to now.
“Goodnight Scootaloo,” said James, “Sleep well.”